Venetian blind tilting mechanism



L.o.BoNs1'EEL 2,849,062 VENETIANBLIND TILTING max-mmm Filed May 9. 1957INVENTOR.

Aug. 26, 1958 United States Patent VENETIAN BLIND TIL'IING MECHANISMLloyd O. Bonsteel, Indian Head, Md. Application May 9, 1957, Serial N o.658,135

2 Claims. (Cl. 160-176) The present invention relates to a tiltingmechanism for a Venetian blind.

As presently in use, Venetian blinds have their slats manually tiltableby means f a length of cord traveling over a pulley the latter beingdrivably connected to the.

tilting mechanism. A defect in such an arrangement is that the cordslips on the pulley and one end or the other becomes too short or toolong, lacks neatness in appearance, and requires lifting from the pulleyso that it may be correctly positioned thereon. It has been attempted to`construct the gears, and the gear segments driven by the pulley, sothat free motion of the pulley is permitted at one end or the other ofthe gear rotational movement. This expedient only results in worn gears,bent slats and frequently jammed tilting mechanisms. An object lof thepresent invention is to provide a structure which avoidsl the dicultyabove described, lends itself to rapid rearrangement of the cordrelative to the pulley without tilting of the slats, without disassemblyof the tilting mechanism, and without further pulling of the cordthrough an immovable pulley, which in the past has served only to fray,wear or stretch the cord, and to impart an unwanted smoothness to thepulley groove, consequently resulting in further slipping of the cord inthe pulley.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tiltingmechanism for a Venetian blind which is of sturdy construction, onesimple in structure, one economical to manufacture and assemble, and onewhich is highly effective in action.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will befully apparent from the following description when taken in conjunctionwith the annexed drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the tilting mechanism ofthe present invention, as seen longitudinally of the supporting bracketor box, the box and the tape supporting shaft being shown in section,

Figure 2 is a partial plan view of the assembly of Figure 1, alsoshowing the connection of the tapes to the shaft,

Figure 3 is a reverse elevational view, showing the operation of thepresent invention,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure l, and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing in which like numeralsindicate like parts throughout the several views, the tilting mechanismof the present invention comprises a brack-et in the form of anelongated box having an open top, and a support means for the tapes 11and 12 which extend below the bracket 10 and between which are supporteda plurality of horizontally disposed slats arranged in spaced relationwhen in the window-opening bridging position, neither the window-Aopening nor the slats being here illustrated as not a part of thepresent invention.

Pce

The support means is here shown as a horizontally disposed rod or bar 13extending longitudinally of the bracket 10 and supported therein at oneend by the normally upright `U-shaped member 14 which has the upper endof one leg 15 formed with gear teeth 16 constituting a gear. The otherleg 17 of the member 14 is provided with an aperture, here shown assquare in shape, receiving the adjacent end portion of the bar 13. Theend portion of the bar 13 is xedly secured in the aperture in the leg 17of the member 14. A box structure 9 on the bar 13 supports the tapes 11and 12.

An upright pillow block 18 is carried within the bracket 10 and, bymeans of a pivot pin 19, supports the leg 15 of the member 14 by'rocking movement about the pin 19 as a horizontal axis.'

An upwardly extending post 21 rises from one end of the black 18 and isformed integrally therewith. 'The post 21 is channel shaped, as'shownmost clearly in Fig. 5, for greater rigidity, and a sleeve 22 isconnected Vto the post 21 means of a stub shaft 23 which projects fromone side of the sleeve 22, for rocking movement Iabout the stub shaft 23as a transverse horizontal axis.

The sleeve 22 supports a shaft 24 for rotational movement in bothdirections. Gear means, embodying a worm 25, is ixedly secured to themid-portion of the shaft 24 and is normally in meshing engagement withthe gear teeth 16 on the leg 15 of the member 14. A pulley 26 is carriedon the end -of the shaft 24 at the end of the lsleeve 23 remote from theworm 25 and an actuating cord 27 has a mid-portion traveling over thepulley 26 for eecting the rotational movements of the shaft 24. The cord27 constitutes a length of flexible actuating means and a length ofcable, chain or other ilexible element may be substituted therefor. Aknob 28 is fixed to each free end of the cord 27 for grasping by thehand.

The stub shaft 23 constitutes means by which the shaft 24 is connectedto the bracket 10 for movement from the normal position in which theworm 25 is in meshing engagement with the gear teeth 16, as shown inFigures 1, 2 and 4, to the tilting position in which the Worm 25 is outof meshing engagement with the gear teeth 16, as shown in Figure 3. Thismovement is effected by pulling both free ends of the cord 17simultaneously and with a force of sufficient strength as to overcomethe tension of a spring 29 which urges the shaft 24 to the position inwhich the worm 25 is in meshing engagement with the gear teeth 16.

From the above description and the annexed drawing, it will be clearlyapparent that pulling both free ends of the cord 27 will permit thefreeing of the pulley 26 and shaft 24 so that the cord 27 may be pulledin either direction to adjust it. Normal use of the cord 27 with alighter pull will serve to effect the tilting movements of the bar 13and consequent adjustment of the slats of the blind.

The use of the device of the present invention will be seen to save thecord 27 from wear, will permit the addition of gripping means to thepulley 26 if desired, and will save on the wear of the tilting mechanismof the Venetian blind with which it is used.

What is claimed is:

1. In a Venetian blind including a support bracket, vertically disposedSlat-supporting tapes extending below said bracket, and support meansfor said tapes rockably carried by said bracket for impartingSlat-tilting movements to said tapes, a device for electing the rockingmovements of said support means comprising a gear carried by saidsupport means, a rotatable shaft positioned adjacent said gear andhaving gear means thereon normally in meshing engagement with said gear,means conadjacent the upper end of fthe latter, by l neetnglsad.shafttosaidbracket for movement of said shaft about a transversehorizontal axis from the'position in which said gear means is in meshingengagement with said gear to a'tilted position in which said gear means'Y is out yof meshing engagement with said gear,.

a pulley carried by said shaft, andV a length: of exible actuating meanshavinga midportion traveling'over saidv pulley, the freeends of saidlast-named means being.v

movements of said support means comprisingv a gear car-` ried by saidsupport means, a rotatable shaft positioned adjacent said gear andhaving gear means thereon normally in meshing engagement with said gear,means conheetingmsaid shaft to said bracket for movement 0f said shaftabout a transverse horizontal axis from the position in which said gearmeans is in meshing engagement with said gear to a tilted position inwhich said gear means is out of meshing engagement with said gear, apulley carried by said shaft, a length of flexible actuating meanshaving a midportion traveling over said pulley, the free ends of saidlast-named means being manually adjustablerelative to` each otheruponexecution of movement of said shaft to the tilted position in which saidgear means is out of 'meshing engagement with' said gear and consequentfreeing of said pulley and shaft for rotational movement togetherindependently of said gear, and spring meansoperativelyconnectedA tosaid shaft for urging said shaft to the position in which said gearmeans is in meshing engagement with said gear.

ReferencesCited .in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

